What Do Walking Catfish Eat? A Look at Wild and Farmed Feeding Habits

The walking catfish is a common freshwater fish in southern China, also known as the bearded catfish. It is an omnivorous species, but its feeding habits lean distinctly toward carnivory. Its food range is very broad, taking everything from fish and shrimp to insects and plant-based feed, and combined with its tolerance of low oxygen and strong adaptability, it is a species many farmers know well.

In the wild, the walking catfish mainly preys on small fish, small shrimp, aquatic insects, snails and benthic worms, and also takes in humus and organic debris from the bottom. It habitually hides by day and comes out at night, foraging mostly in the evening and at night, and the well-developed barbels around its mouth help it sense and locate food in dim underwater conditions.

Under farmed conditions, walking catfish are generally fed specially formulated pelleted feed, which can also be combined with ingredients such as fishmeal, soybean meal, wheat bran and rice bran; some farmers also use animal by-products to supplement animal protein. At the fry stage just after stocking, they feed mainly on plankton and small prey such as cladocerans in the water.

For daily feeding, it is important to feed at set times and in set amounts. Walking catfish have a large appetite and are greedy eaters; overfeeding not only wastes feed, but uneaten feed settling on the bottom also fouls the water and can easily trigger fish disease. Only by keeping the water clean, controlling stocking density at a reasonable level, and flexibly adjusting the feeding amount according to weather and feeding response can walking catfish eat well and grow fast.